Page 11 of Hardline Torque
Victor spun, blade flashing, gun in his other hand.
“Hold,” Tane growled to his team.
Victor froze.
They stared at each other.
“How the hell did you get this close without me clocking you?”Victor demanded.
Tane grinned.“Because we’re just that damn good.”
****
Victor’s heart slammedhard enough inside his chest that for a split second he thought the knife wound had finally killed him.
Four men.
No—five.
He scanned them instantly, brain snapping into threat assessment even as his body stayed coiled and ready.Rifles up but not raised.Spacing tight.Angles perfect.Black Tide.
He swallowed once, pulse roaring in his ears.
“So,” he said, forcing his voice into something resembling casual as he straightened a fraction, blade still loose in his hand.“What now?”
Tane answered without missing a beat.
“I know how to drive the truck,” he said.Calm.Certain.“We’ll take it back to our compound and see what these bastards left us for Christmas.”
Victor blinked.
Of all the ways this could have gone, this was not one of the scenarios he had planned inside his head.Of course, him being able to drive an eighteen-wheeler truck had also not featured in his planning.But what’s a guy to do?He has to make do with the cards fate deals him.
His gaze flicked to the eighteen-wheeler, then back to the team.He felt something inside him loosen—just a touch.Relief, maybe.Or resignation.
Black Tide taking possession of whatever the Directorate had been moving made sense.More than sense—it felt right.If there was something dangerous in that truck, they’d either secure it, use it to shut something worse down, or destroy it outright.
They were disciplined.Accountable.
Things the Directorate had never been.
“Sure,” Victor said after a beat.“Take it.”
Decision made, he turned away.
“Stop.”Tane’s voice cut clean through the night.
Victor paused mid-step and looked back over his shoulder, eyebrow arching.“I don’t take orders from you.”
Kael stepped forward before Tane could answer.
Authority rolled off him in waves.
“No,” Kael said evenly.“You both take orders from me.”
Victor stared at him, genuinely startled.“I’m not Black Tide,” he snapped.“I work alone.”
Tane sighed.
